Air Dried Oak

[Dave Richards]

A few years back I bought about 100 bf of red oak from a farmer. It was stuff he'd cut 20 to 30 years ago while clearing some of his land. It is mostly about 8-10/4 although there's some 4/4 stuff in the pile as well. He dried it in a shed with a dirt floor. Seemed to be well-stickered and pretty nice.

I bought it because it was a good deal (I think) at around 50 cents/bf. but I haven't used more than maybe one board of it.

Now, I'm thinking about getting into that stuff but wondering if I should have someone stick it in a kiln or what before I start jointing and planing. I have had it in my father-in-law's unheated garage since I got it.

Should I perhaps face joint and plane to take off the rough surfaces and then stack it for awhile? If yes, how long? My shop is not heated yet, though I hope to get that changed before winter really sets in.

If I take it in the house to dry more and then return it to my shop to work it, do I lose all my drying? For that matter does kiln-dried lumber just go back to ambient moisture levels after being removed from the kiln?

So many questions, so little brain. :D

[Eric Apple - Central IN]

The wood doesn't care if it was air or kiln dried. It will reach EMC (equilibrium moisture content) with it's environment. So if you bring it inside from the garage, it will probably dry out some. Then when you take it back outside, it will probable gain moisture.

If the garage, and your shop do not have climate control the wood will not move much when going from one to the other. However if you bring it inside to dry for a few months then take it back out to the uncontrolled shop environment, it might move a lot when brought inside, and again when brought back outside. This depends upon what the EMC will have to do.

So if the garage and your shop are about the same environment, and you don't normally have problems with wood movement with items from your shop living inside, I would just use the wood the same way you've used kiln dried stock.